Human centric interface (HCI) means a human-oriented interface, and includes all technologies belonging to a human interface that makes a human-machine interface natural as a human-human interface. Recently, information terminals are diversified into not only cellular phones, notebook computers, and PCs but also MP3 players, PDA, and the like, and one appliance provides bidirectional functions of the cellular phone, PDA, MP3 player, camera, and the like. The importance of the user-oriented interface becomes greater.
In the year 2000, starting a new thousand years, human interface technology has been once selected as one of 10 important technologies for future 10 years.
The human interface technology is not independently provided, but is included in diverse products. Since the HCI field is a user interface field, it is required to easily and quickly provide an interface desired by users. The human interface may be a field that reflects the client's inclination rather than the technology itself. Therefore, the human interface is a field to hold an ear to opinions of not only engineers, but also marketers, psychologists, designers, and consumers.
Currently, technology of an input device in a portable terminal has been developed with some features. As popular cellular phones employ a 3×4 keypad, each manufacturer develops new mechanical material and electrically contact manner while maintaining discrimination by using an input method having a native trademark by company. With the trend of slim cellular phones, cellular phone manufacturers prefer TACT switches as contacts in keypads since consumers are long familiar with keypads.
Consumers are get used to send a short message, retrieve Internet sites or send an e-mail by using the input mode employed by the cellular phone manufactures. Since there is little difference between the number of input types and input speed, the consumers do not feel the convenience and discrimination. The cellular phone manufactures hold character input meetings not to attract attention to a business, but to promote its brand power.
In the case of smart phones that are gradually spread in the market in trademarks of Black Jack (Samsung Electronics), enV (LG Electronics), Q (Motorola), mylo (Sony), and the like, QWERTY keyboards are employed as input devices of the smart phones.
At present, the QWERTY keyboard is the fastest input device among the currently developed input devices, and the manufacturers prefer to select this type of input device.
However, keys provided on the smart phones are relatively small, and this disturbs the key input speed. Accordingly, with the current tendencies in complexity with PMP, navigation, DMB, and the like, some smart phones adopt keyboards installed in touch screens by software.
Touch screen technology has been developed around PDA terminals, and includes an input system sensing a resistance value of a finger and an input system sensing a capacitance value between contact surfaces. Recently developed touch screen character input apparatuses and methods somewhat make up for the existing problems, but require complicated manipulation with a finger or a tool and accuracy to cause users to have severe fatigue. These apparatuses and methods also have the problem that the size of buttons is too small for the users to input them with their fingers.
Accordingly, it is not considered that the recently developed touch screen character input apparatuses and methods greatly improve the existing inconvenience, and thus terminal manufacturers cannot easily determine their production. Nevertheless, application of such touch screen input devices to high-class cellular phones and some smart phones has been gradually spread.
Since it is very important to overcome the limits of displays and input systems for their functions as multimedia devices truly desired by users, the roles of useful touch screen character input methods and apparatuses have become much greater.